


To Love and Protect

by BeaInga



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Hermione in Slytherin, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Slow Burn, Slytherin, Slytherin Hermione Granger, Teacher-Student Relationship, at least i hope so, house swap, maybe some fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-02 07:41:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15792063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeaInga/pseuds/BeaInga
Summary: The Sorting Hat had been quietly considering for a while where to put Hermione Granger. The huge hat would’ve probably covered Hermione’s head entirely if her hair wasn’t so big, curly and fluffy. But when the hat finally shouted its decision to the entire Great Hall, everybody was too amazed to say anything.The hat's decision changed the course of several different people's lives.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please, notice that English is not my first language, so there might be some typos or grammar errors.

A muggleborn in Slytherin. A mudblood. How did it happen? Almost everyone in Slytherin were from a pureblood family, even though there were also a couple of half-blood wizards and witches, too. But a muggleborn in Slytherin? To Slytherins, it was impossible. And it actually was quite rare.

The Sorting Hat had been quietly considering for a while where to put Hermione Granger. The huge hat would’ve probably covered Hermione’s head entirely if her hair wasn’t so big, curly and fluffy. But when the hat finally shouted its decision to the entire Great Hall, everybody was too amazed to say anything.

Those who had been in the wizarding world for their entire life knew which families were purebloods – and Granger wasn’t one of them. However, the other three houses really didn’t care that much if somebody was pureblood or not. And those who didn’t know for sure seemed to think that Hermione might be even a half-blood.

But Slytherins knew also quite well what families were half-blood. For most Slytherins it was important to know other’s relations. Or at least it was important for their parents, who then taught everything foward to their children.

 

▪▪▪

 

Hermione sat on her bed in the dungeons where the Slytherin House was located. The very first day of her sixth year in Hogwarts was over. She was still the only muggleborn in her house. She had sighed again when the sorting for the new first years was over and it seemed no other muggleborn would be in Slytherin. She had let out a disappointed sigh every year after her own sorting. After years had gone by, she was less and less enthusiastic of the sorting. Of course she was excited to see all the new first years and where they would be sorted in, but she had grown to already know that most likely no other muggleborn would be sorted in Slytherin.

Just like every year before this one, Hermione Granger sat on her bed recalling her own sorting. How everyone else was cheered on their respective house tables. How everyone else was congratulated by their new house mates. How everyone else was welcomed to their new houses.

How non of that happened to her. How most of the Slytherins had been quiet. Some had been whispering quite loudly. She was never congratulated by her house mates. Of course her parents had congratulated her by owl post, but they really didn’t understand. After all, they were muggles. How could they understand?

She wasn’t bullied by her house, but she didn’t have any friends either. She was somewhat respected, mostly because of her intelligence, but nobody wanted to befriend with her because of her blood. She didn’t have friends from any other houses either, but that was because of her house. No one wanted to befriend with a Slytherin.

She often wondered why on earth had the Sorting Hat put her in Slytherin. She thought she would’ve fit to Ravenclaw so much better. Maybe the Hat had been wrong. Maybe it had made a mistake. Hermione supposed it could be possible, even though probably also very rare. She hoped it had been a mistake.

She lifted her hand and ran it trough her hair. She still hadn’t been able to tame it properly, neither with nor without magic. Last year she had finally tried several different spells and potions, but nothing had worked so she gave up. But at least her hair wasn’t as wild as it had been during the first two years in Hogwarts.

Her thoughts shifted from her house to past summer. It had been quite a nice summer. It had been warm and sunny, but not too warm. During the last two weeks of the holiday she had been on a road trip around the British Isles with her cousin. It had probably been the best thing about summer, just being in the muggle world for a moment with no worries of what had been happening in the wizarding world. The attacks of the death eaters had increased during the summer, but those last two weeks while being on a road trip had been good for her. It had helped her to relax and not stress so much about everything. Of course she had been worried that death eaters would attack them while they were on their road trip, but luckily nothing had happened.

She was pretty sure death eaters would attack her if they got a chance. After all, she was a muggle-born. A mudblood. But on the other hand, her house might save her. At least her house was a slight advantage for her. Surely they wouldn’t expect to find a muggleborn in Slytherin, right? But then almost everybody was a child of either a death eater or a Dark Lord supporter, so surely they knew that there was a mudblood in such a prestigious house. She sighed when she came to this conclusion, again.

When death eaters finally would gain enough power, she wouldn’t have very big chances of surviving, even if she was a Slytherin and even if Severus Snape, the Head of her house, was supposed to protect her, as well as the other students. She wasn’t even sure, what side he was in.

 

▪▪▪

 

The next day Hermione sat on the Slytherin table eating her breakfast and thinking about her coming day. Her first class was supposed to be Advanced Potions. She was nervous about it. This year Potions was supposed to be taught by Horace Slughorn instead of professor Snape who had taught her potions the previous five years. This year Snape was going to teach DADA.

Snape wasn’t very nice. Of course he was pleasant enough to his own house, always favouring them. But to others he was mean. He was quite mean to her, too, but not as mean as he could be. But nevertheless, Hermione thought Snape was one of the best teachers in Hogwarts. He might be mean and probably also abusive, but she couldn’t say he wasn’t a good teacher. She had learned so much about the art of potions from him that now, when she would be taught by another teacher, she was afraid she wouldn’t learn much.

On the other hand Hermione was also thrilled that Snape would be teaching different subject. She loved DADA, as she did love any other subjects too (excluding Divination). She was thrilled to be taught DADA by Snape, who seemed to know a lot about this subject too. He most likely would be mean in this one, too. Why wouldn’t he? But she didn’t care as long as he was better at it than Umbridge had been. She had been just awful.

A couple of minutes later she was accompanied by Draco Malfoy.


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione looked to her right confused. Her eyes were met by Malfoy’s grey ones. They stared at each other for a moment until Malfoy said: ”What? Can’t I sit where I want to sit? Or do you still want to sit alone, Granger?” He snorted.

Hermione looked away. She shook her head lightly, as if to get her brains back to what was going on. ”Of course you can sit there, Malfoy, if you really want to.” She drank a bit from her cup of tea. Then she muttered under her breath: ”Though I can’t think of any good reason for a Malfoy to sit with me...” She had wished that he hadn’t heard her, but of course he had heard.

”Maybe I want, for once, to talk to actually smart person.” He poured coffee to his cup. ”Or perhaps my father wants me to befriend with you. Or perhaps there’s some entirely other reason.” He shrugged.

Hermione snorted. ”All of those reasons are very unlikely to happen. After all, I’m a muggleborn, so why on earth would your father want you to become friends with me?”

”Well, to be honest, that is only one reason I decided to sit with you. I’ll explain later in a bit more private circumstances his reasoning.”

Hermione looked at him again. ”What are the other reasons why you’re sitting there? Surely you yourself don’t want to be friends with me, nor do you want to talk to me.”

”Granger, most Slytherins are intelligent, just like you and I, but when you manage to befriend with two idiots, you’ll want to talk to any person who has even half of a brain, without thinking twice if their blood is filthy or not.” Hermione winced slightly at this, but Malfoy didn’t seem to notice. ”Of course for example my father wouldn’t appreciate this logic if it was any other mudblood, but you’re exceptionally intelligent.”

Hermione sighed when she heard the word _mudblood_. Of course Malfoy still would be an idiot, even though he apparently now wanted to try to have some kind of friendship with her. “Malfoy, what to do really want?”

He snorted lightly. “What do I want? Maybe I just want to have a conversation with somebody who actually can hold a decent conversation. I don’t know, you tell me, Granger.”

“How about you tell me as soon as possible, what your father wants from me?”

“I already said that I’ll tell when we’re alone.”

“Yeah, sure.” Hermione finished her sandwich. “I’ll now head to the dungeons for potions class.” She stood up and hesitated for a moment before continuing. “What do you have now?”

Malfoy looked up at her and took a sip of his coffee. “Potions, too. But why are you off to the class when there’s still at least half an hour before it starts?”

“Maybe I like to be early. Or maybe I like to walk slowly, thinking about life.”

He snorted at her answer. “Just sit down and have that bloody conversation with me. Surely you’d want to talk to someone intelligent too? You’re always so quiet, when you’re not in class.”

“That’s probably because I have no friends to talk to. You know that very well,” Hermione said and sat back next to Malfoy.

“I have noticed that.” After that there was an awkward silence for a couple of seconds. Then Malfoy started talking about potions, since it probably was one of the safest and easiest options to have a discussion about.

After half an hour Hermione found herself sitting next to Malfoy in the potions class. Their conversation before had been surprisingly pleasant. When they had arrived to the class a couple of minutes before it started, Malfoy had asked if she cared to join him in the back of the class.

Hermione had to admit to herself that it was weird to sit in the back. She had always, in every class during her Hogwarts education, been sitting on the very first row. Some students looked confused when she went to the back, but she couldn’t blame them. She was confused as well. But as long as she wasn’t alone she wouldn’t complain, even though she definitely couldn’t say that she’d have a friend now. Because she didn’t. Malfoy was merely being nice to her, or as nice as he could be.

The class went quickly by. Hermione and Malfoy both worked in a silence that wasn’t exactly comfortable, but it wasn’t awkward either. After the class ended Hermione headed to the Arithmancy class. Malfoy had a free period so he headed to Slytherin common room. He told Hermione to meet him in the Room of Requirements half an hour after supper. Throughout the day she debated with herself if she should go or not. On the other hand she didn’t trust Malfoy that much, but on the other hand she really wanted to know what was going on. Why Lucius Malfoy wanted his son to befriend with a muggleborn?

 

▪▪▪

 

It was already supper time and she still hadn’t decided whether or not to go to the Room of Requirements. _Why is this so hard…_ Then Malfoy came to sit next to her again. He leaned closer to her and whispered: “So, are you coming?” Hermione didn’t know what to answer. “Well?”

She finally sighed. “Yes.”

“Good.”

The rest of the supper they ate in silence. Well, at least Hermione did. Malfoy chatted away with Pansy Parkinson. They seemed to be closer than they had been last year. Parkinson looked happy. She was all smiley, and Malfoy smiled too. But Hermione noticed how his smile wasn’t as bright as it had been before. It was a real smile, but not as bright. Maybe his summer hadn’t been as refreshing as it was supposed to be?

Hermione finished eating and stood up, planning to quickly visit library before heading to the Room of Requirements.

“Remember, in half an hour.”

Hermione lifted her eyebrow at Malfoy and left the Great Hall. She could hear Parkinson asking what he had meant by that. Hermione smiled at that. Parkinson always seemed like the jealous type. And that also seemed to confirm her suspicions.


	3. Chapter 3

“What?!” Hermione was too confused to say anything else and Malfoy sighed.

“Yes. Both he and the Dark Lord want me to become friends with you so I could coax you to take the Dark Mark.”

She was silent for a moment, considering what he had told her. “But why?”

“Because the Dark Lord has a plan. I don’t know much, but apparently it has something to do with your brains. I think they want you on our side as soon as possible, despite your blood. The Dark Lord wants your brains before you get a chance to… join Dumbledore’s side. He wants to get advantage of your intelligence before Dumbledore lures you to his side.” Malfoy shrugged.

“And you…. you’ve got the Mark, haven’t you?” He nodded at this and then there was a long and awkward silence between them.. “When did you take it?” Her voice was small, uncertain.

“During the summer. To be honest, I don’t know if I actually wanted to take the Mark. The biggest reason for taking it was my father.” He lifted his gaze to Hermione. “Because as a son of a death eater, you’re supposed to take a Mark and become a death eater, too, no matter your own opinions.” Hermione looked at him confused and he explained. “I don’t necessarily believe in what I’ve been taught since I was a baby, but I don’t really disagree with it that much. I mean...” He sighed. “It’s hard to explain. I don’t want to believe in everything that I’ve been taught, but then… what else am I supposed to believe in? And the worst part is that I have to act like I believe in it. I have to act like I serve the Dark Lord willingly or else they’ll cast a couple of Unforgivables on me.”

 

▪▪▪

 

Hermione tried to sleep. She hadn’t slept very well during the past couple of nights. Not after what Malfoy had told her. Her logical side of brain said she should take the Mark if she wanted to stay alive. It would be a huge risk, yes, but she wouldn’t be attacked and tortured and murdered immediately, if something happened. She would be relatively safe with the Mark.

But her emotional side of brain said she shouldn’t take the Mark. It was wrong. She was a muggleborn and those with the Mark hated muggleborns. She couldn’t take it, it was like a betrayal to her blood.

_But you want to stay alive, don’t you?_

The logical part of her brains was right, of course it was. If she wanted to stay alive, she had to take the Mark. It could destroy her future, if the Dark Lord was defeated, but she didn’t care. At least there was a bigger chance of being alive if dark side would lose. And she really hoped they would lose.

Now, the question was when should she take the bloody Mark. Surely Malfoy can help her with all these things… After all, he was a death eater.

When she finally had come to the solution she fell asleep. She definitely didn’t like it, but at least her brains let her sleep now.

The next morning she went to the Great Hall and scanned the Slytherin table for Malfoy. She spotted him on the far edge of the table, sitting alone and she let out a relieved sigh. Then she walked straight to him and sat next to him, on his right side.

“Granger,” he acknowledged her arrival and continued reading the Daily Prophet while drinking his coffee.

“Malfoy.” She sat herself down, made herself a cup of tea and took a slice of bread.

After a moment Malfoy opened his mouth. “You’ve been avoiding me for the past couple of days and now you’re sitting with me. What’s going on?”

Hermione sighed before leaning closer to him. She didn’t want others to hear anything, even though they probably would know later. “I’ve been thinking and thinking and have come to my decision.”

“About what? The Mark?” He lowered his voice as well.

“Yes. What else? Anyway, I’ll take it. I guess I have to if I want to stay alive longer.” She took a sip of her tea and waited for Malfoy’s reaction.

“Okay.” He was silent for a long time. Hermione had almost finished her tea when he finally talked again. “I never thought you actually would agree to take it. Or even consider it.”

Hermione let out a small laugh at that. “Since the Dark Lord rose again, I’ve known that if I want to stay alive, I have to do it at some point. But I still had to debate against my own heart on this decision.”

Malfoy laughed at that. “I’ll let the him know you’re ready to take the Mark.”

Hermione nodded in agreement. She was grateful she had cast a wordless _Muffliato_ before they had started talking about this. Of course Malfoy had lowered his voice, but Hermione still didn’t want to take any chances of others hearing, even if the others were Slytherins too – and at least some of them were probably also death eaters.

 

▪▪▪

 

A week later Malfoy finally informed Hermione when he would take her to the Dark Lord to take the Mark. It had been just a small piece of parchment given during the potions class that told her to meet him at the Room of Requirements right after the curfew the next night. She destroyed the parchment during the very next chance she had.

She couldn’t sleep very well. She was way too nervous about everything that was going to happen. The war. Her becoming a death eater just so she could live. What a Slytherin thing to do… Maybe she after all had at least a bit of Slytherin in her. Otherwise she wouldn’t even be joining the death eaters.

She hoped Malfoy would quickly brief her on how she should behave in front of the Dark Lord before they flood to the wherever they were going.

The next morning at breakfast Malfoy was teasing her. Or at least it seemed like he was teasing. “You look awful, Granger, like you didn’t sleep at all.”

“Pfft. What do you think?” Hermione snorted and focused on eating her breakfast and trying to read a book.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise Severus will be a part of the story, sooner or later!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying to post this bloody chapter for the past, I don't know, like 20 minutes and have failed several times because my wifi is shite. But apparently I've finally succeeded.

Right before the curfew Hermione went to the Room of Requirements. Malfoy wasn’t there yet, but would probably be very soon. She paced across the room, unable to stay put Her nervousness had increased during the day and now she was so anxious she thought she was about to throw up. When she first had had that feeling today, she had drank some anti-puke potion she had secretly brewed just days earlier. At least she wouldn’t now actually throw up, even though the potion didn’t take away the feeling.

Hermione snorted at the idea of throwing up in front of the Dark Lord. It would be humiliating. Luckily she had had a weird feeling of needing this particular potion and luckily she had been able to steal the ingredients from professor Slughorn’s storeroom. In her thoughts, those storerooms were still professor Snape’s, even though she knew they weren’t. His storerooms were probably entirely somewhere else, now that he was a DADA teacher.

It had been surprisingly easy to break into Slughorn’s storeroom. The wards around his office and the storeroom were ridiculously easy to undo and redo. She had anticipated it to be easier than to break into Snape’s office, but she hadn’t thought it to be that easy. And apparently Slughorn hadn’t even noticed anything, not even that something was gone from his stores.

Soon Malfoy appeared in the room wearing all black. He also wore a cape she recognized to be a death eater cape. “Granger,” he greeted. “We’re going to floo to the Malfoy Manor in half an hour. My father will meet us there. Then we’ll be off to the meeting and you’ll get your Mark.” He was quiet for a moment considering his next words. “The Dark Lord probably will use a Cruciatus curse on you. He might also make you use an Unforgivable, to be sure about your loyalty.”

Hermione sighed. She didn’t know if she was ready to do this. But ready or not, she had to.

“Is there something you want to know? We have around half an hour before we need to go, so now would be a good time to ask the questions.”

She was quiet for a moment before asking the biggest question she had in mind. “Does it hurt? Taking the Mark, I mean.”

It was Malfoy’s turn to be quiet for a moment. “Yes. It does hurt. How much? That depends entirely on your pain tolerance, but I’m sure he could make it even more painful than it actually is. And if not, then he can torture you, let’s say with Cruciatus, to make the entire… thing more painful.”

“Talking about the Unforgivables… has anyone ever used one on you?”

“Yes, Cruciatus. But only once.”

Then Hermione decided to change the subject, not entirely, but away from the pain and Unforgivables itself. “How should I act in front of the Dark Lord?”

“I’m sure my father will also give you a short brief on this, but in short: do not look the Dark Lord in the eye, bow when you arrive in front of him and only speak when asked.”

Hermione nodded. The rest of the time they were quiet, both deep in their own thoughts. But soon they had to prepare to floo themselves to the Manor.

When Hermione stumbled from the fireplace in a huge living room in the Malfoy Manor, she was greeted by Lucius Malfoy. She was uncertain of his reaction to her. She saw a hint of disgust, probably towards her being a muggleborn. But on the other hand there was also something else. That something else was most likely faked friendliness or something like that.

Soon after her the younger Malfoy stumbled from the fireplace. He greeted his father with a quick nod.

“Miss Granger, what a… pleasure to finally meet you,” Lucius Malfoy then said. “We’ll have to get going soon, but just so you know… Do not look the Dark Lord in the eyes unless you’re asked to do so. Do not speak unless you’re asked to do so. When arriving in front of the Dark Lord, bow at him. Call him ‘My Lord’ and do whatever he asks you to do.”

Hermione nodded. “So… If he asks me to… use an Unforgivable on someone, I have to do so, right?”

Both Malfoys nodded to confirm her statement.

“Now, Miss Granger, are you ready?” Mr. Malfoy’s voice didn’t give away any hint of emotion. Maybe he had decided that the best way to talk to her would be with as neutral tone as he could achieve.

“Yes, I think I am ready,” Hermione said, even though she knew she wasn’t. She was pretty sure both Malfoys also knew she actually wasn’t ready. But as long as she pretended to be ready, everything was going to be fine. _You know that’s a lie._

“Well, shall we go downstairs then? Draco, my son, I assume you can escort our beautiful little guest.”

The younger Malfoy nodded at his father’s request and gave Hermione his elbow. She raised an eyebrow at that but still took it, grateful for the support, whether it was unintentional or not. The older man walked past them, in clear indication for them to follow him.

The walk downstairs felt like it was a hundred miles, when in reality it was much, much shorter. But soon the trio entered a huge, dark room.. Everybody were quiet when they arrived, taking in the trio – or more likely the muggleborn witch who was coming in with two pureblood wizards. Hermione could hear the exact moment the death eaters realized who she was. Suddenly there were whispers she could hear too. Whispers saying “Why there is a mudblood here?”. Whispers saying what they would like to do to her.

And then a command to be quiet.

The death eaters were standing in a circle. There were two empty spots in the circle and Lucius Malfoy went to one of them. Draco Malfoy walked Hermione to the centre of the circle and then went to his place. She didn’t dare to look around her. She didn’t dare to think anything else except what to do next.

There was a deafening silence as everyone waited for her to do something. _Bow,_ her mind told her and she did how she had been told to do. When she bowed she said: “My Lord.” She was nervous and afraid, but at least she still was able to speak. The air was thick with her nervousness and the death eaters’ excitement.

The Dark Lord chuckled. “Well, well, well, Miss Granger… Hermione… Draco Malfoy tells you’re ready to take your Mark, hmm?” Hermione didn’t like how his voice sounded. She wanted to shiver but suppressed the feeling. “Answer, girl.” The command was far harsher than anything the Dark Lord had yet said.

“Yes, my Lord.” Hermione tried to keep her voice even. “I’m ready to take the Mark.” She still didn’t look up but she heard a delighted laugh.

“Well, Hermione, my dear… Look at me.” And she did, not expecting anything special. She could see quickly what kind of a man was Voldemort and it terrified her. “ _Legilimens!”_ Then the Dark Lord invaded her mind. She was surprised by the actions, but was still somehow able to hold him away for some moments before he was able to crush down her walls she didn’t even know she had since she had never practised Occlumency. Her entire life slid before her, every memory was raided. She wanted to stop him but knew it did no good to do so. Soon she was alone in her mind again and the Dark Lord laughed. “You indeed are a Slytherin… Joining the death eaters even though being a mudblood… Just to stay alive.” The death eaters laughed but quieted quickly. “ _Crucio!”_

The pain was like nothing she had ever experienced. It shot through her like a million hot knifes. She heard herself scream from somewhere far away but she didn’t care. She just wanted the pain to stop. And it did, after a short moment that had felt like an eternity. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe. She was still suffering from the aftershocks of the Cruciatus curse, thinking how Malfoy had been right.

“Now, Hermione… I’d like you to do me a favour before you’ll get the Mark...”


	5. Chapter 5

Hermione hesitated just for a second before answering. “Anything, my Lord.” She didn’t even want to know what this favour was she was asked to do.

“Bring them in!” The Dark Lord clearly couldn’t contain his excitement. And after a moment the doors to the hall opened and several people came in, mostly more death eaters. But there were two people Hermione recognized: her parents. They looked awful, like they had been tortured. “I assume these are your parents?”

Hermione could only nod, but it was clear the Dark Lord wanted her to say it aloud. “Yes, my Lord. They are my parents.” She could only imagine what she would be asked to do, probably cast an Unforgivable on them. She shivered at the thought. Her parents never had been very close with her. They never physically abused her, but they were emotionally distant, maybe even abusive. But to her, it was a horrible thought to do anything bad to them: after all, they were her parents. They were the people who had brought her up during her childhood, and even though they hadn’t been so big part of her life since she had turned 11, she still didn’t want to do anything bad to them. Or at least she thought so. It was an understatement to say that they had been distant. But Hermione didn’t want to admit anything, not just yet.

“Good! Now, first cast a Crucio on them, will you?” Even though it sounded like a request, Hermione knew it actually was a command and she had to obey him, no matter what. She felt a wave of nausea course through her. She didn’t want to do it, but she knew she had to.

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. In that time, the only sounds in the room came from a couple of death eaters and her parents who were moved to stand in front of her. Everybody was quiet, waiting for her to do something.

She knew she had to close her feelings, bottle them up, and just cast the curse. She had to do it, or someone else would do it and something more – and she would die, too. She took a few seconds to search for the most painful memories she could find. She wanted to suppress all the not so many positive feelings about her parents before doing anything – it would be much easier to cast a Cruciatus on them if she was angry.

Hermione opened her eyes and lifted her wand to first point her mother.

_Hermione is 11. Professor and Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall had just visited her and her family, explaining what Hermione is and what Hogwarts and magic are. Her parents had listened to the old witch an incredulous look on their faces. They probably never really believed, what McGonagall had told them. They only know something is wrong with their daughter._

_Hermione herself believes all of it, of course. It makes sense. All the accidental magic she had done before. All the things that had happened and made her parents angry with her and punished her. But Hermione’s happy to finally know what she is._

“ _Hermione Jean Granger!” Her mother started yelling at her when professor had left. “We do not believe in anything that bloody woman just told us, but we do believe that something is wrong with you! Very wrong! How else would you do those little cursed things, tell me, girl!”_

“ _But mum! Professor McGonagall told us! It’s magic, I’m a witch and I’ve been offered a place to train my magic in!” She feels so small, so little and her mother seems to be so very big, with her even bigger father right behind her mum. She’s terrified. They have never ever hit her, but now she’s afraid they will and she can’t get away, they’ve cornered her._

“ _It might be magic, yes, but you’re CURSED, you bloody girl. There's no good in your so called magic.”  Her mum turns around and starts walking away. “Should’ve remembered use condom when making you, you disgusting thing.”_

Hermione looked straight into her mother’s eyes. They were full of horror, pleading for her to save them. “ _Crucio_!” She heard her mother scream in pure agony. She heard broken phrases, both from her mother and her father. Her mother pleading her to stop it, the words broken in her screams. Her father doing the same, a horrified look on his injured face as he tried to understand that it was indeed her daughter causing the pain to his wife.

Hermione didn’t want to do this. But she had to. She made herself focus better on the bad memories, to forget they were her parents. But she wanted her mum’s pain to end. She wanted to cancel the curse, but she didn’t know if she had the Dark Lord’s permission. The logical side of her brain knew her feelings were contradictory.

When she finally heard the permission to cancel the curse, she sighed slightly in relief and lowered her wand. Immediately her father started yelling at her, but was cut by her quiet voice.

“Dad, don’t you understand? I have to do this to stay alive.” She considered her next words. “Besides… You could’ve been better parents.” The silence in the hall was heavy and she knew she had to act, to cast the next Crucio to her father.

She closed all the happy memories from her mind. She didn’t need them right now. She could cherish them after this was over, when she was back in her bed in Hogwarts. If she wanted to.

_It’s the first time Hermione’s going to Hogwarts. Her father is driving her to King’s Cross in London. It’s quiet in the car. Hermione is very excited, but her father is rather… stiff? Her mother isn’t there, but if she was, Hermione imagines she would be very angry, shouting her opinions of her daughter and magic and all that stuff or she would be quiet, lips as a tight line. She had been very vocal about her opinions since professor McGonagall had visited._

_Hermione doesn’t know what dad thinks about this. She only knows that she wants both of her parents to be happy for her. But they aren’t. They say she’s cursed._

_After some time, they arrive to King’s Cross. “Hermione, go. Now.” His voice is cold and Hermione just sits there, staring at him in disbelief. He had never worded his opinions before, and even though Hermione was just a child, she could sense now his disgust over what she is. “Go!”_

_Her eyes fill with tears and she leaves the car, taking her stuff from the back._

_The last thing she hears is the words_ bloody cursed child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slow burn is here so slow that the other person of the pairing hasn't even made a proper appearance in the story yet. XD But I promise it will happen soon!


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